LGBT Rights Activist and U.S. Embassy Worker Murdered in Bangladesh | Sojourners

LGBT Rights Activist and U.S. Embassy Worker Murdered in Bangladesh

Dmitry Kaminsky / Shutterstock
Photo via Dmitry Kaminsky / Shutterstock

U.S. Embassy worker Xulhaz Mannan was murdered April 21 in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, according to the U.S. State Department.

Local reports say Mannan and another man were hacked to death. There is some suspicion this violence was provoked by Mannan's LGBT activism.

ABC News reports:

The U.S. is "outraged" by the attack, [State Department spokesman John] Kirby said.

"An act like this simply is beyond words, unjustifiable, inexcusable and our heartfelt condolences of course go out to his mother, to his family, to his friends, and to his colleagues, as well as all of those who knew and loved the other individual who was also brutally murdered with him," Kirby said today.

...

While many details are not immediately available, several media outlets reported that Mannan was the editor of Roopbaan, a Dhaka-based nonprofit magazine for the LGBT community. Kirby described him as a member of the U.S. embassy family who did some work with the USAID.

Read more at ABC News.